Esper -- The Story of Tritoch
by Annie Felis
Summary: The autobiography of the esper, Tritoch; the story is told only the way he can tell it, and thus the experiences are his own. (incomplete)
1. Chapter 1 -- The transformation

**Esper -- The Story of Tritoch**  
by Annie Felis

Slowly the stars came out over the small village that was nestled in a forgotten valley on a hidden continent. The residents all entertained themselves in after-dinner activities as usual...although the residents themselves were anything but usual. While seemingly human as they sat in their homes or sat gazing at the stars, they were all blessed, or even cursed, with powers and lifespans nearly godlike.

Although one particular one of these individuals was acting anything but godlike. She frowned and looked at her host with icy blue eyes that were framed by pale indigo hair. "You're bluffing."

The man she fixed her intent stare on gave a small smirk, and scratched at his multicolor hair. "Am I now? You gonna risk it all on a hunch?" His own firey red eyes locked with her cool blue ones.

"Damn. Fine.....I fold." She threw down her cards in disgust. "All right, show me your magnificent hand.

Her opponent grinned triumphantly, and put down his cards for all at the table to see. There was a groan from the other players that had folded their hands long before Shiva did. The red-eyed man grinned maliciously. "A pair of fours and the rest is a load of crap. Thank you very much ladies and gentlemen." he pulled their bets towards his growing pile.

A woman with dark brown hair sighed. "See, now that's why I don't play against you Tri....you're too good at keeping a straight face."

Tritoch smiled at her. "Would you believe that I learned how to bluff properly from the legendary Setzer Gabianni?"

She frowned. "Whom?"

Shiva sighed. "Yuri never met Setzer, remember?" She turned to the slightly-confused girl. "He was a netorious gambler from about a millenia ago. Although why he would want to talk to Tritoch is beyond me."

"Could of been worse..." Ifrit growled. "He could of spent some time with Sabin. Great guy, if you get past the lack of brains."

Yuri looked at her Esper companions, having becoming an Esper herself recently. "You've all known a lot of famous people in history, didn't you?"

Shiva toyed with a few cards, trying to make a small structure out of them. "Yeah....I've been around for quite a while....so has Iffie. We've both seen and done it all, haven't we dear?"

Ifrit nodded and grinned, showing sharp teeth.

Tritoch stacked his newly-obtained money into neat piles. "I've done a lot too....known some people, been a lotta places..."

"Yeah?" Shiva looked sly. "If you've done so damn much, why is it you've never told me about it?"

"Or me." Ifrit added. "I don't even think he tells Bahamut about his experiences."

"Nobody. I've told nobody, since it's my life." Tritoch glanced at Shiva, who was still looking at him with a somewhat irritating expression. "Don't look at me like that....I don't think you guys would want to hear about my stupid life."

Yuri lightly touched his arm. "I'd like to know. If I'm going to be here with you for the next several millenia, I'd like to know something if anything about you."

"Yeah, c'mon Tri..." Ifrit badgered. "share a little, will ya?"

Tritoch sighed, and looked at his companions. "...fine....but not tonight. It'd take too long, and I wouldn't get very far."

"So use that new computer we got you....you have it for a reason, and that's not to play StarCraft. Write an autobiography, Tri....and be sure to make it good. I'm expecting a feel-good story with some suspense, action, a little romance and even a happy ending."

"...too bad, because you're getting what you're getting. And don't pretend to be my editor again...or you'll get a Fire3 in the face."

  
  


SECTION ONE: Youth  
Chapter One: The transformation

First off, I'd just like to say that this is a stupid idea. If Shiva bothering me about this stupid project wasn't bad enough, she went up to Bahamut and asked him about it. So now Bahamut thinks that this is an absolutely _wonderful_ idea, and he actually ordered me to start writing right away. Apparently my normal duties to him can wait...all of the damn village is waiting for the release of "Tritoch the Magnificient!!" in trade paperback. If it wasn't for Yuri's persistance with this task that I'm undertaking, I seriously wouldn't do it. For some reason, Yuri always gets me to listen. I guess I have a soft spot for cute little women with big blue eyes (that does NOT include you, Shiva!).

I have no idea how many months or even years it'll take for me to write this autobiography of mine, and I can't guarantee a ripping, entertaining story (it's my life, not a movie). But since Bahamut persisited, Shiva and Ifrit persisited.....even Fenrir, Ayame, Xain and even Sephiroth persisited (I wish all of you would just mind your own business...), I'm sitting here at this computer writing. Whoop-de-friggin-do. Oh, and by the way....since this is my story, I'm telling it how _I_ want to tell it; this includes sarchastic comments and small interjections every once in a while. Anyway, I probably should start out.

  
  


I was born in a reasonably-sized town of nearly a thousand people (the world was just recovering from the aftermath of ExDeath and Mu, so the population of the world dropped, and technology went a bit backwards for a while). I had a reasonbly-sized family....me being the third of three children (hence my name being "Tritoch", which in that time meant "the third one"), although that number dropped seriously because of a wave of pneumonia that passed through. My two older sisters, whom were identical twins, died when they were seven, and I was five. The illness affected my vision, and I could barely see out of my left eye because of it. Luckily, that changed later on....but I'm getting ahead of myself here.

My father always went to work in the mines (the town would eventually become Narshe....but at the time, it was named differently), and my mother would head to the fields every day, since we lived in a communal farming community. It was a good place to be a kid....plenty of places to hide or play "war" or build forts....great places to swim or catch bugs, and if there was anything that Nartch (the name of the town at the time) had, it was plenty of kids. A lot of them were older than me, but a few of them were within my age range.

I usually played with the kid next door and his sister. The boy was named Fenrir, and the little girl was named Leana. Fenrir was a wild boy three years younger than me, and Leana was seven years behind me. That meant that whenever Fenrir and I wanted to go play, his mother would saddle him with the responsibilty of taking his little sister with....and thus completely ruining our fun. Do you have any idea how hard it is to play "pirates" when a three-year-old keeps trying to take your ship apart? At one point I had the idea to ditch Leana when she wasn't looking. I don't exactly remember what we did, but the result was a crying four-year-old sitting in the mud in the middle of the road. When my parents and Fenrir's mother found out, we were in serious trouble. My reasoning was that there was no harm done...Leana had only gotten a little dirty, and little kids always get dirty anyway. My mother didn't seem to share my views.

  
  


A word to the wise....never EVER try to get out of trouble by debating the subject with your parents. No matter what happened, and no matter what views you take, and even if you KNOW that you did nothing wrong, you're guilty as sin. Simple as that. So just take the blame and shut your mouth.

  
  


So both I and Fenrir were grounded, although since the whole ordeal was my idea, I was given hard time in my bedroom for a bit longer than Fenrir was. I usually got grounded as a child, since I was such a pain in the neck....sometimes I wonder why my parents didn't give up on me totally. You may of noticed that now I'm somewhat obedient when following orders from Bahamut. This is because I finally got tired of suffering the repercussions for ignoring or spurring those in charge. I'm a good boy now.

Anyway, it was somewhere in the second week of my "Detention", and Fenrir was already off the hook. He stopped by my house midmorning looking for me. Luckily, I was the one who answered the door.

"What are you doing here?" I said quietly, so my mother wouldn't hear.

"I'm here to talk to you, obviously." Even then, Fenrir was a wiseass. "Look, can you come out and play?"

I shook my head. "I don't think my mom will let me....she's still mad at me, I think."

"Aww...try being nice to her....maybe she'll let you off the hook. Have you been doing chores around the house for her?"

I was somewhat confused by this, since in my house you ALWAYS had to do chores. No chores, no meals....it was as simple as that. I later learned that Fenrir never had to do anything other than sit around and look cute. He and his sister were always spoiled rotten. I think that's why he has the attitude he currently owns.

  
  


Sorry Fenrir....but you know you deserved that.

  
  


"Tri, who's at the door?" I heard my mother tromping down the stairs. My mother wasn't a big woman, but she sure sounded like one when she walked.

"It's uh.....um..." I turned to Fenrir. "What do I tell her? If she finds out you're here I can get in big trouble."

Fenrir shot me that annoying grin of his. "Tell her the truth." He looked at something behind me. "Tell her right now, while your at it."

"That's right, Tritoch....please explain what he's doing here." I turned to see my mother looking down at me with a calm expression that was nearly as annoying as Fenrir's jovial one. "Aren't you supposed to stay away from him?"

Reasoning didn't seem to work last time, so maybe the truth would this time. "He came over to talk to me, and see if I was un-grounded yet. He didn't come to cause any trouble."

My mother frowned. "Where Fenrir goes, trouble follows."

Fenrir shuffled his feet. "I don't deny it, ma'am."

I looked up at her. "Mom, I'm telling the truth. He didn't have anything bad in mind...at least I hope I didn't...and if you really want, I'll send him on his way."

She crossed her arms and leaned against the doorframe. "Good idea. Run along, Fenrir."

"Yes, ma'am..."

"And take Tritoch with you. He's been cooped up in here long enough, I think."

Fenrir saluted military-style, clicking his heels together. "Sir, yes sir...er....ma'am!"

I broke into a grin and ran after Fenrir, who had already took off. "Thanks mom! I really mean it!"

"Just be home in time for dinner!" She called after me. Like most mothers, mine was overly......"mom-ish".

  
  


I swung my stick fearlessly, and adjusted my imaginary conical helmet. "I shall slay thee, vile fiend!" I frowned, and stopped swinging my psuedo-sword. "What are you supposed to be, anyway?"

Fenrir was crouching and baring his teeth at me. "Me? I'm a huge grey wolf....and I eat people for fun, and freeze 'em with magic for even more fun." He stopped baring his teeth. "What are you supposed to be, a hero?"

"Well...yeah. So?"

He shook his head. "That won't do....you gotta be something cool....something that can stand up to the bloodthirsty ice wolf."

I thought for a moment. "A dragon?"

"That's been done...something cooler."

I dug at the bottom of my creativity, and arranged my hands into claws. "I'm tall....really tall. And I have a beak like gryphon....and feathers and wings like one....but I'm not one. I have the body of...of...a snake! Yeah...and um....four arms! And I shoot big nasty energy beams from my mouth!"

Fenrir looked at me strangely, his wolf nearly forgotten. "Tri....that's just weird."

"It's not weird! At least it's more creative than a big wolf that eats people!"

"Nuh-uh! A wolf that can turn people to ice is the best! I bet all your...snakey thing does is sleep all day."

"I'll show you what it does! En garde!" I lunged at him, knocking him over. We rolled in the dirt, him pretending to bite, me pretending to slash with my four claws and beak. Pretty soon, we jumped back from each other, breathing hard.

"So....that's what your wyvern snake thingy does...." Fenrir said. 

"Your wolf isn't too bad, either...although what happened to the magic? You didn't try to freeze me."

"Yeah well....he only freezes an' eats people....not snakey guys with wings."

"Yeah, I guess that's fair. Although I still don't know what the snakey guy is....I just hope that if there is something like that in real life, I never run into it....or a ice wolf, either. Right Fenrir?" I looked at him, but he was staring at something in the distance, behind me. "Fenrir?" I could see his hands were clearly trembling. I turned to look, wondering if this was just a little game of his.

It wasn't. Bands of multicolor light flew above and through the town, rushing through trees and building, catching fire to most of what they touched, if they didn't explode at first. Panic erupted in the streets, people ran from house to street, off the street into houses....some with chocobos, some carrying children, all of it chaotic. But what my gaze was fixed on wasn't the magical lights or the people getting wiped out by them, it was on the two figures that stood on either side of the town. They were immense, female, and both dressed in armor. I had heard of the Goddesses doing war, but I never imagined that they would do it here.

I saw Fenrir run past me, towards our houses on the outskirts of town. I ran after him. "Fenrir, no! Stay away from there!"

He kept running, not listening to my pleas to stay back. I don't remember how long it took for us to get to my backyard, but I do clearly remember what happened as we reached it. Fenrir was still running, towards his house, and I was reaching out to grab his arm. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see one of the Goddesses raise her arm to let out another blast of magical energy. I opened my mouth to scream a warning, but it was drowned out by the sound of millions of timbers being wrenched apart. A brilliant light shot through the city just as I grabbed onto Fenrir, eradicating all that it touched. I don't know how we escaped death by being touched by that blast of energy that the Goddess Doom shot, but somehow it sent us both flying back behind a wagon, which shielded us from the flying shrapnel and debris. We clung to each other, and I could hear Fenrir crying. I don't know if I was crying as well, but odds are I was. I don't know how long we stayed there behind that wagon, but it was long after the lights had ended silence had taken over. I felt pain in my body, but it was nothing to the pain in my mind. I knew what I would see when I looked at the town.

Fenrir raised his face, and maybe it was a trick of the light, but his hair seemed almost silver instead of its normal dusty-brown. His eyes were red from crying. "I....think it's over." He then looked at me. "Your hair....it's....!!"

"Your hair looks silver. I bet mine looks funny too because of all that magicky stuff. C'mon, we've got to see if anybody's left." The two of us clambered up from behind the wagon, and took in our surroundings. Where the town of Nartch once stood, there was just heaps of burning timbers and charred skeletons in the streets, of both humans and chocobos. We stood there numbly, not knowing how to respond, and then I heard him crying again.

"They're all gone, Tri..." he sobbed. "All of them....my family, your family. What are we gonna do?"

I shook my head, not knowing how to respond. Amazingly, I was fairly calm at this point. "I don't know." I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my legs, like they were being run over by a herd of animals. I fell to my knees, crying out in pain. "What's....wrong with my legs?" I looked up at Fenrir, and gasped. My friend's face was beginning to change. His eyes were no longer brown, but had settled into a deep gold color. His face was covered in silver fur that sprouted as I watched, and his ears looked like those of a wolf's. I screamed. "Your face! Your ears! Look!"

Fenrir touched at his face, and made whimpering sounds....not like that of a small boy, but more like a puppy. He jabbered something, but I couldn't understand him because the pain in my legs became so intense I couldn't focus on anything else. I fell to my side, crying out from the pain, since it felt as if my legs were being ripped apart. Then it suddenly stopped, and I lay gasping in the dirt from the shock of it. I heard Fenrir scream again, and looked down at my legs. My legs were gone...a long snakelike tail covered in blue and green feathers was in their place. I looked up at Fenrir with tear-blurred vision. "I can't move Fenrir...I can't walk! Please, help me!"

He backed away from me, his features becoming more lupine by the minute. He continued to blubber and jabber meaninglessly as he took steps away from me. I reached towards him, pulling myself forward with my other arm. "Please! You have to help me!"

He tripped over something as he walked away from me, and then scrabbled backwards like a crab. "Y-you stay away from me Tri! Just get away!!" He managed to get to his feet and ran off, howling like a young wolf pup as he ran. I tried to follow him, pulling myself forward with my arms, trying to move my tail in any way that would help. It was no use, I was simply too slow, and soon he disappeared over the horizon. I collapsed in the dirt and started sobbing.

I was alone.

  


* * *


	2. Chapter 2 -- Finding my way

Chapter two: Finding my way

I don't know how long it was that I lay among the ruined grass and dust that sat along with the wagon in my backyard, but time was irrelivant to me. I was alone; there was only me, that damn wagon, and a lot of wreckage...and that was it. Nothing else for miles around. This thought might be terrifying to an adult mind, but to a child it's pure hell. Nothing is worse to a 12-year-old than knowing that you're alone with nobody to go to. To top it off I was still in pain, and I knew that parts of me were changing, just as my legs had turned into a feathered tail. My hands hurt in particular, and under examination I found that they were doing some interesting things. My hair on my arms and hands was completely gone, and the skin had taken on a dry texture....almost scaley. My nails were growing long too, and starting to curve. That is, only the nails on my thumb, index and pinky fingers. The other fingers of my hands were starting to meld together with those three, so I was slowly changing from five digits to merely three. I didn't even touch my face or try to figure out what was happening there. I really didn't want to know.

So I lay on my side in something resembling a fetal position, and I stared at the horizon, the direction my friend had run off to. I distantly wondered if Fenrir was okay. I knew that he had taken the situation hard, so he might do something crazy like fling himself off a cliff or go up into the mountains and freeze to death. The thought of losing the one thing I had left completely wrenched at my heart, and I started crying again. I was doing that on and off...every once in a while I'd calm down and my mind would wander, but eventually it would stray back to my current situation and I would get all weepy again.

It was getting uncomfortably warm in the midafternoon heat, and I had done a lot of running without having anything to drink since early in the morning. I knew that I had to get out of the sun or I'd fry. That thought made me snap out of my whimpering stupor, and willed me to move. Eventually I sat up as best I could with my tail, and looked at the wagon. It was the old wagon my father had built when he was a teen, as a pre-marital gift to my mother. There was nothing spectacular about it....it was just a flatbed with four walls, four wheels, and a yoke at the front for a chocobo. Now the yoke was cracked, and the underside of the wagon, which now faced the remains of Nartch, had debris embedded in it. It was a depressing site to see, that the only thing out of an entire community that was left was a sorry-looking broken down chocobo wagon. I didn't think about it at the time, but I think that I was even more sorry-looking than the wagon.

I crawled over to the broken wagon by pulling myself forward with my hands. It hurt just to try to grab at the ground, since my fingers were still changing. I managed to haul myself into the flatbed, and wedged myself into the space behind the worn-out seat in the front. Tail or not, I was still the same size I was before, so I still fit behind it easily. It was definately cooler in there, not to mention darker. At least I wouldn't have to see my nose, which had seemed to grow and turn red. I closed my eyes so I wouldn't see it at all, and I thought of how I described my "monster" when me and Fenrir were playing. It made sense...he had pretended to be a grey wolf, and as near as I could tell that's what he was changing into. I had described something so bizzare it wasn't even something that existed. Snake tail....now I had a snake tail. Feathers...I touched at my hair. It wasn't hair anymore, it clearly felt like feathers. And I mentioned claws and four arms. I groaned. Why did I say four arms? I had two at the moment, but I didn't feel like sprouting two more. Or wings. Or a beak for that matter, which I knew was already forming instead of my nose and lower jaw. The more I thought of it, the more hysterical I became. I didn't want to become a freak. I might be able to stand becoming a wolf like Fenrir...at least he could blend with wildlife. I was turning into a dragon thing. No....a wyvern thing....something that knights and heroes hunted down and killed. And took the heads as trophies. I hugged at myself and rocked back and forth. I didn't want to die that way. I didn't want my freakish head with a beak on a wall somewhere. The thought of it all made me scream, over and over. It was a horrible scream, something halfway between a human's and an eagle's.

Then I fell silent. I didn't know why....I just felt that I should. I felt like something was nearby, and if I didn't shut my beak it would find me. I continued to whimper out of fear, and even though I knew my ears were buried in feathers I could clearly hear something walk through the rubble nearby. If anything, my hearing was much better. I heard it come closer....whomever it was, it had two legs. Maybe a chocobo, or even a person. I didn't know to be afraid or to be hopeful. I made a small sound, an indication of where I was and then listened and waited.

I heard the footsteps come closer, and stop near the wagon. They were soft and light footfalls, like the person casting them was either small or just light on their feet. It definately wasn't a chocobo. I squeezed my eyes shut, still afraid of whom or what it might be. It could be a hunter with a crossbow for all I knew. Great, my head might be on a wall. I should of never screamed. I should of just shut up.

And then I heard the gentle voice, right in front of me. "Boy..."

I shook my head, not opening my eyes. 

"No...I'm not a boy anymore. Leave me alone..."

"Then what art thou? Behind thine feathers and strange countenance I doth see a boy. One who is very afraid, at that.

I opened my eyes slowly. The speaker was leaning her head into the wagon, bare arms resting lightly on the top wall of the wagon. Her hair was long, curly and brown, and seemed to constantly waver in a wind that didn't exist. So did her clothing, or what little clothing she wore. Her robe was made of gauzy silk, and I clearly see her naked features underneath. Despite the situation I was in, I stared.

She must of taken my stare for something else. "Do not be afraid, young one. I shall not harm thee as did mine sisters. I grieve for what they hath done to thou and thine home." I started to tremble. Her sisters...the two goddesses that waged war over my home town. Those two wore armor and angry expressions...meaning that they were the goddesses of death and destruction, Poltergiest and Doom. That meant that this was...

"....Goddess..." I barely could pronounce the name, my mouth having altered into a beak fully at this point.

"Thy intuition is good, young one."

My heart leapt. "You're Goddess..." The word 'Goddess' came out as 'goddethh', my beak imparing the word. "...can you do something for me?"

"Thou art a fair boy, good in heart. I will grant thee a favor in hopes that I can somehow redress what Doom's magic hath done to thee. What is it thou doth ask of me?"

I edged forward a bit, out of the nook that I was nestled in. "Please...just change me back. Make me human again."

She sighed, her look apologetic. "I am sorry, but I cannot undo things that have already been done. I am a creator, I cannot re-do another's creation." She sighed softly when she saw me start to cry. "I am sorry, little one."

"Then please...kill me. I don't care how...I just want to die." I looked at her through tear-blurred vision, and her expression told me what the answer would be.

"I do not kill, I bring life. Doom is the one who doth bring death, as well as her hand doth bring this curse upon your body. Do not weep, for I shall think of something." She sat on the wagon and patted her lap. "Comest hither, boy."

I looked at her. "You want me to sit on your lap?"

"Is that so wrong?"

I sniveled a bit. "But I'm....ugly."

"You are not ugly to me, Tritoch." I somehow figured she would know my name. "You are my child, as is everything else alive in this world. Beauty lies in all living things." She took my three-fingered hand, which was now tipped in claws. "I wish to give you comfort, nothing more."

I looked at her, and then climbed into her lap, wrapping my tail around both myself and her slender waist. She put her arms around me, and immediately I felt safe. I wasn't going to die here, and as long as Goddess was nearby, I would be all right. "Thou art changing rapildy, Tritoch, even as we speak."

"I know." I said miserably. "I should of wanted to be something else."

"Nay, for thou couldst only be what thou hath within thine heart. The wyvern is a noble beast, and should not be underestimated. His wings are broad, his beak and talons sharp, and his mind even sharper."

"I don't have wings." I said.

"Is that so?" She ripped my clothing away. I didn't care if I was naked...it didn't make any difference at this point. I could feel something strange at my back...an extra weight. No, more like an extra amount of sensation. "There are thine wings, Tritoch. Look."

I looked over my shoulder to see a mass of feathers. Slowly I extended my wing, trying to get used to moving an appendage that wasn't there before. The feathers weren't the fluffy angelic type, but rather hard pointed ones, ones that were partially scales. Most of the feathers were a white with a green sheen, but some were a grass green, others were icy blue, and the largest ones were blood red. I stared at that wing, and I could hear Goddess laughing lightly at my reaction. I reached out to touch the feathers, and stopped when I saw how I reached for it. I didn't reach to touch it with one hand, I reached for it with two....with two right hands. I raised all four of my arms, wiggling the fingers on each one indipendantly. Goddess laughed again.

"Is it really all that amazing, Tritoch?"

"I....I don't know. I don't know what to think, other than I'm here in a broken-down cart, and I'm the..." I tried to push away the tears that were coming again. "...and I'm the only one left. Even Fenrir ran away...so I'm alone."

"But is that truly so? Art thou alone?"

I nodded numbly, hugging myself with all four arms.

"And tell me, young Tritoch, art thou alone when I'm here?"

"W....well, no. But when you leave I'll be alone again."

"Then when I do leave, I shall take thee with me."

"...but...my home...?"

"Thine old home of Nartch is gone now, young one. Thou shalt find a new home with me." She stood up, still holding me. I coiled myself around her tighter and held on with all four arms. "I see thou doth accept mine offer."

I looked at her straight in the eyes, and then I was lost. A word of advice: never look a diety straight in the eyes, or you might find yourself serving them unquestionably. That's sort of what happened here. I wanted to be with her...I wanted to please her and to serve her. Anything to repay this act of kindness. "I want to do more than accept...I want to serve you, my Goddess. Please, let me just serve you."

She laughed, and the very sound filled my entire body with joy. "It shall be, then. You shall be mine Esper."

The word sailed right over my head. "Esper?"

"In the Gods' private language, it means "spirit". It is something between a servant and apprentace. Thou shalt serve me, but thou shalt learn the arts of magic, science, creation, and perhaps the art of fighting. Prepare thine self, Tritoch....for thou art now mine Esper, and for many years you will be working."

And so started my "Espership". Too bad I didn't exactly know what Goddess had in mind. If I knew, I would of clung to that broken-down wagon like there was no tomorrow. 

* * *


	3. Chapter 3 -- The start of servitude

Chapter three: The start of servitude

And so, I was now with the diety Goddess, in her service and unknowingly in her shadow. That's the thing about dieties: they make all nicey-nice with you, but most of them are pompus and anal-retentive on the inside. It doesn't matter who you are, they're always better, and they're never wrong. Things are always their way. Goddess didn't seem to be this way. She was very kind to me as we made it back to wherever it was she lived (which I later found was a pocket of forest that existed outside of the planet's reality...don't ask). She talked to me quietly and soothingly, and I soon began to feel more sure of myself, as if things weren't as bad as they seemed. Yes, my family, friends, even my town were gone...but Goddess was here to take care of me. Goddess would always take care of me, and all I had to do is love her like any of her children. She explained this to me when I offered to wait on her hand and foot in return, but I didn't listen.

  


Remember this always: Gods and Goddesses LOVE reverse psychology. Half the time if they say something, they mean the complete opposite. Do yourself a favor and just avoid talking to immortals (but we Espers are okay).

  


Goddess' home appeared to fit right in the middle of a storybook. A neat, thatch-roofed cottage seated in the middle of a forest glade, right next to a small brook. Animals stood near it unafraid as we approached, watching us with their small innocent eyes. Birds that had quietly chattered in the trees earlier sang joyously as Goddess approached with me in her arms. I took all of this in while in a daze; I had fallen asleep during the walk here, and had woken up when we had already reached the forest. I didn't exactly know where "here" was, but I figured that's how Goddess planned it, and why I fell asleep.

We walked up the worn dirt pathway up to the front door, which was a deep brown color, although I didn't have a clue what sort of wood it was. The same goes for the rest of the house...it was made of a tan wood that seemed as if it should of been bleached by the sun and weather, and yet it seemed to be freshly cut, if not still alive. The best way I can think of describing this cottage is to say it was like the Seven Dwarves' cottage, but made of living wood. I know it sounds crazy, but strange things happen around Gods.

"Should I get the door for you, Goddess?" I asked politely. I probably would of had considerable difficulty opening the door considering my current form, but it didn't occur to me. I just wanted to help my savior.

She laughed that light little laugh of hers. "Nay, good Tritoch. Rest in mine arms for a while longer...the door shall open for me." She stepped up to the door, and it swung open quietly on its hinges. I blinked in surprise, not at the fact that the door had opened up by itself, but because of the interior of the house.

It was definately not small. It wasn't even large. Grandose, immense, and impressive are a few words that came to mind when I saw the inside. It wasn't a quaint little house....it was a paradise inside. The floor was zig-zagged with white marble pathways, laid down in red dirt. Various plants, trees and flowers spread their branches and petals towards the light streaming from above. I looked up to see the source of the light, and saw the largest window I've ever seen in my life. "window" wouldn't be the right word, neither would skylight. The entire ceiling of the huge atrium was made of glass, set into intricate patterns like a stained glass window, but completely clear. There was a flurry of colorful movement in the taller trees, and my eyes strayed towards them instinctively. Tropical birds of all colors and sized flitted from tree to tree, chittering and singing happily. 

Goddess set me down on a bench that sat next to rows of tropical flowers. "Remain hither for a bit." she said. "I shall find accomidations for thee. Excuse me." With that she turned, walked down one of the many pathways, and disappeared into a doorway that lead who knows where. I was alone again, but I didn't mind as much. I knew that she would come back. I looked around and watched the birds as they went about their avian business, wondering how much I resembled them. I knew that I was freakish, but I didn't know how much. I touched my beak, which was fully-formed at this point, and considered it for a while while watching the birds. 

Suddenly, everything froze. The birds stopped flying in mid-air, water stopped dripping from the condensation on the glass dome above, and even the faint breeze that passed through the room discontinued. I looked around, confused. "Uh.....Goddess?" 

"She's busy right now." A voice said from a tree. I looked up to see a small gold dragon seated in the branches, his eyes fixed on me. "Don't worry, I'm just playing." The young dragon jumped down and flexed his wings. "But you have to admit, it's always cool to make 'em stop in mid-air like that." 

I stupidly looked at the dragon, who was slightly larger than I was, and by his voice, perhaps a few years older. He grinned at me. "You don't have a clue, do you?" 

"I uh...just got here. Who are you?" 

"Me? Harsghalt. One of Goddess' many servants." He bowed. "Oh yeah, and the only Esper with time-altering magic." Harsghalt walked up to a bird that was frozed in the air like a photograph. "Isn't it pretty?" 

"Time....magic?" 

He turned his attention away from the bird to frown at me. "What are you, new? Oh, that's right....you did just get here. Yeah, time magic. Haste, slow, stop, things like that...what kind of magic do you have?" 

I shook my head. "I don't have magic. I just turned into this...snakey bird thing a few hours ago, and I'm still trying to adjust." 

Harsghalt made a vague gesture, and time took on its normal flow. The birds continued to fly about as if nothing had happened. "Snakey bird thing, huh? You look like a wyvern to me." 

"I thought I was a wyvern, but the more I think about it, the less I seem like one. Wyverns are dragons...and I'm not a dragon." 

He sat next to me on the bench. "Nope, they're not really dragons. They're more birdlike. And they usually have a head crest and horns like you too." 

"Head crest? What are you talking about?" 

He sighed. "Kid, have you even looked at yourself since you transformed?" 

"Well, not really." 

He pointed to a pond. "Go look at your reflection." 

I slid off the bench, and slither-crawled my way to the pond, since I hadn't gotten the hang of moving about yet. I heard Harsghalt laugh at my means of locomotion, but I didn't say anything. He was a dragon bigger than me, and I was... 

I was impressive. I looked down at my reflection in awe. My eyes had changed, instead of being their normal blue, they were black. Not just the irises...my entire eyes. I blinked, and noticed that a second eyelid slid horizontally across my eyes just as my normal ones closed. It was unusual. With one of my three-clawed hands, I reached up to touch the faint nubs of horns that were forming on either side of my head. The head crest was just odd, but when I touched it, it seemed to be real bone and horn material. My feathers were green and blue, and they seemed to change color back and forth as I moved. My neck and chest were covered with flexible gold plates that had a faint red sheen to them. My multi-color wings loomed behind me, situated behind my four arms. However, what I noticed the most was my beak. It was a beak like a falcon's, but it was just as multicolored as my wings....with shades of red, blue, green and yellow. 

Harsghalt came up beside me and pointed at himself. "For future reference, this is a dragon." He pointed at me. "And this is a wyvern. Got it?" 

"I uh...yeah. I get it." 

"Good. What's your name, anyway?" 

"Tritoch." 

"Well then, Tritoch, I'll see you later. Goddess is coming back, and I don't want to get in her way." He moved off and disappeared into the trees. 

I turned to look for Goddess, and found her just as she entered the room. She had a small girl with her, who had gold and purple wings emerging from her brown hair. Yet another Esper, apparently. "There thou art, Tritoch." Goddess said. "'Tis time for you to get settled in. I would like you to meet this fine young girl. Her name is Siren. 

  


Yes, Siren and I go back a long way. She wasn't too bad as a child, actually....but when she grew up that's when things started getting interesting for me. 

  


Siren gave a little curtsey. "Hello. Aren't you a weird one?" 

As you can see, Siren and I never started out too well. "You're no prize yourself. Can you fly with those wings of yours, or are they just weird ears?" 

Goddess crossed her arms. "Children, I did not bring thee here so thou couldst bicker." She gave Siren a gentle shove forward. "Show him to his room, make sure he bathes and eats, and then take him to meet the others. I have business to attend to." 

My heart dropped in my chest. "You're...leaving, Goddess?" 

Her smile was more beautiful and warming than a sunrise. "Only for a short while. I intend to seek out more that were damaged by mine sisters' squabbles. Be well whilst thou doth settle in, Tritoch; after a few surprises, I do think thou shalt find a perfect home here. Goodbye, until later." Then she vanished. 

Siren folded her wings beneath her chin, on her collarbone. "Sorry if I came on strange....it's just that I've been cranky lately. 

"That's okay. So you're Siren?" 

"Yep, and you're Tritoch. For some reason Goddess really has some interest in you." 

"Me?" 

She nodded as she examined one of my stiff-feathered wings. "Yeah. Maybe because you're more interesting than most of the Espers here. Not to mention you're one of the youngest. She says that you're 12." 

"12 1/2." 

"Right, whatever. I'm 13, and Harsghalt who's hiding in those trees there is 15." 

There was some rustling sounds behind me and a mumbled "...wasn't supposed to see me here..." 

"Well anyway Tri....mind if I call you Tri?" She didn't wait for a response. "Good. Let's get you cleaned up, and then get some food in your stomach. I bet you're starving." 

At the thought of food, my stomach began to dance in circles. I hadn't eaten since breakfast, and it was many many hours later. "That sounds good. Please, lead the way...oh, and excuse me if I can't keep up to well. I lost my legs today, and I'm still figuring out how to get around." 

Siren giggled. "No problem. At least you're a nice guy, four arms or not. All right, this way then." She lead me down one of the many winding paths, and over a small bridge. I peered down at the water, and found some goldfish swimming about in the water, minding their own business. The only thing is that these fish were not only the color gold, but they shone gold. No, not light reflecting off of them, they actually _glowed_ as I looked at them. 

"You can look at the fishies later, Tri." Siren said a bit impatiently. "Right now we've gotta set you up with a room and a roomate." 

"I have a roomate?" The concept of sharing a room was unknown to me...everybody in my family always had their own bedroom. 

"Yeah, that way you have somebody to talk to, and you can help each other out when you have to train and study and stuff. It's not as bad as you think, you get plenty of privacy." 

We continued on, out of the large greenhouse and into a hallway made of dark wood and white marble. I looked around in awe; I had never seen such a beautiful place. Siren kept a slow pace for sluggish me, and smiled occasionally, flicking her gold and purple wings. We went up a winding staircase, and came out onto a nearly identical floor. We stopped in front of what appeared to be a completely random door, and she took out a small clipboard. "Hm....nope. I don't think you wanna bunk up with Iffie." 

"Iffie? Who's she?" 

Siren giggled. "Iffie's a he, silly. And his full name is Ifrit. He's not too bad of a guy, once you get past his temper. But since you're new I think you'll want to avoid Ifrit for now, since he's something of a bully. I think we'll just put you in a few rooms over and get you a roomate later on." She checked her clipboard again, and lead me three doors down. "Here we go...this'll do." She opened the door for me to see. "Home sweet home." 

It wasn't as opulent as it was functional. Four walls with a doorway to what was obviously a bathroom, an arched ceiling painted white, and a large oriental rug on the floor. There was two beds, a table near a small fireplace with two chairs for eating, and a desk with a stool. There was a shelf on the wall with bookends on it, but it was unoccupied by any books. "It's not much, is it?" I asked. 

"Of course not...this is just the basics we all start out with. You're welcome to add whatever you want....just don't draw on the walls, don't have fires outside of the hearth, and don't prop open the window with anything. Those are the basic rules. Meals are served to your room just after dawn, just before noon, and at dusk....but the kitchen is always open in case you need a drink or a snack. The library is back downstairs, through the atrium, and to the left of the main doors. And then there's the "meeting room". It's sort of a play area but it has tables and chairs too....and that's to the right of the atrium. There's more too, but that's just a start." She opened the door to the bathroom, to reveal the white-tiled interior. "Set up just like an Inn, except you get your own bathroom for each room. There's soap, towels and a brush...well, you don't need a brush...but anyway, I think you should take a bath. Your pretty wings and tail are all dirty, and Goddess doesn't like dirty Espers in her nice clean palace." She smiled. "If you need anything else, I'm in room F7. Your room is M12, so remember that. I'll have a late lunch sent up to you so you can eat after you bathe. When you're done in here, you should either go to the meeting room or the library to get to know some of your neighbors." She curtsied again. "If there's anything else, just ask. We're all friends here." She then left the room, and closed the door behind her. 

  


Siren wasn't that bad a person, until she finished puberty. Then all those hormones kicked in, and all the male Espers fled in terror, including me. 

Siren, if you're reading this, you KNOW you deserved that. 

  


I slithered over to the window, and opened it. Outside it was comfortably warm and sunny, with a faint breeze. The forest that we had walked through was outside, and we were clearly on the second floor. The walls of the building I was in still appeared the same as the cottage: pale-colored wood. Yet I knew that the cottage only appeared to have one floor when I first saw it. I shook my head and closed the window, trying not to think about it. Apparently magic took a large part here, and I didn't want to think about magic currently...not after what happened to me, Fenrir and Nartch. I made my way into the bathroom, and found a pair of oil lamps on the wall, and a pack of matches on the sink next to some soap and a hairbrush. I took the matches and after a few tries, lighted the lamps. Then I turned to look at my reflection in the reasonably-sized mirror hanging over the sink. I still couldn't get over how odd and yet how interesting I looked. I opened my mouth and made a hissing sound, trying to look threatening, and absently noted that my tongue was now pointed like a bird's. I lowered my feathered brow and snarled, showing curved teeth inside my maw, and then laughed. How ridiculous; I was a little snakey bird thing, not some huge malevolent dragon. I probably couldn't scare a fly. I stuck my pointed tongue out at my reflection, then got my bath ready. 

Bathing with feathers is interesting, to say the least. While the water completely slid off my wings, it soaked my somewhat fluffy body feathers, making myself look even more like a snake when I looked at my reflection afterwards. Not only that, but I smelled....odd. Clean was one of the smells, but the other one was clearly the smell of wet feathers. I sighed, made my way over to the window, and sat on the windowsill, fanning my wings to dry. 

I was still sitting on the windowsill when there was a polite knock on the door. I turned towards it, but remained seated. "Come in." 

The door opened, and it appeared that Death himself was carrying a covered tray. I recoiled slightly in horror at the bony appirition in front of me. The adult Esper carrying the tray set it down on the table. "You afraid of me?" His voice wasn't as intimidating as his looks. 

"Well, you DO look like the Grim Reaper..." I admitted. 

"Yeah, I know....but I'm not a bad guy." He folded his bone wings against his back and extended a skeletal hand. "My name's Lich." 

I tentively reached out and shook his hand. It was warm, not cold like I expected. "Tritoch." 

"Yeah, the new kid. I'm the head of the kitchen, and since the rest of the kitchen staff are on a break, I decided to just bring you lunch myself." He lifted the lid, and some very delicous smells wafted towards me from the tray. "Here's some pea soup, a slice of bread, an apple and a glass of milk. If you need more, you can come down to the kitchens and ask. But don't be a total pig, we don't want you to get fat." One of the vacent eye sockets winked at me, and the grinning skull seemed to grin more. "Enjoy your meal. I'll probably see you around." 

I pulled myself over to a chair at the table, and hauled myself up into it. "Thank you, Lich. You're right, you seem to be a nice guy." 

"I wouldn't lie. You seem to be good at getting past apperances, which you definately need to do while living here. When you're done, bring the tray down to the kitchen. It's next to the meeting area. I have work to do....so I'll see you later." 

I eagerly took a bite out the bread. "G'bye Lich, and thanks." The bread was delicious, and still warm. I had no problems eating the bread (although figuring out chewing with my new mouth took some time) or the apple, but the soup and especially the milk was a challage. I couldn't neatly pop the spoon full of soup into my mouth and slide out out between my lips like I used to, seeing that I no longer had lips. I tried licking the soup off the spoon and even directly out of the bowl, but that didn't accomplish anything, and I knew it looked stupid. I finally figured out a way to eat with the spoon properly, and after some tries, managed to find a safe way to drink the milk without spilling it on myself. I completely cleaned my plate and sighed happily. Good cooking and nice people....maybe this place wasn't going to be so bad. 

Just as I was thinking this, my door burst open. I looked up from my empty plate to see a boy about my age standing in the doorway. A boy, that is, with a somewhat doglike muzzle filled with needle-like teeth. He had brown fur covering his body, a mane of red hair, and delecately swept back horns that shone a dull black. He didn't wear anything aside from a pair of shorts. "So, you're the new guy?" 

"Yeah. Who're you?" 

He smacked a clawed hand to his forehead...or at least where his forehead should be, and layed his pointed ears back. "Man, how could they leave me out? Didn't they tell you that I'm the boss of this floor?" 

I blinked my black eyes. "Uh....no. Should they have?" 

He thumped over to the chair opposite me and sat down uninvited. "Hell yeah. I gotta have a word with 'em about that." He looked at my empty plate. "Like the soup?" 

"Yeah, it was really good. Um....what's your name?" 

"Ifrit. Everybody calls me Iffie, though....your name's Triwalk or something, right?" 

"Tritoch...it's _Tritoch_." So this guy was the bully. I hated bullies, but maybe I could get on this one's good side. Ifrit was slightly larger than me, and even though he was young he had arms that were already muscular. I didn't want to find out how strong he was. 

"Fine, Tritoch...in that case...I want you to remember something. If you do anything wrong, or get in my way, I'll fry you. And if you make me mad, I'll pound you." 

I looked at him with a flat unemotional stare. "I'll be sure to remember that. Is there anything else you want, or can I go about my business?" 

Ifrit stood up and flexed his muscles. "You didn't say "sir", you know. That's not good for you." 

"Oh gee, sorry "sir"." If I was going to get pounded, I at least wanted the satisfaction of knowing that this guy wasn't going to get me to bow and scrape to him. "In that case, is there anything else you want "sir", or can I be excused, "sir"?" 

His red eyes seemed to glow. "Get off that chair!" 

I crossed my arms defiantly. All four of them. 

Ifrit made a growling sound. "I said, get off that chair, and I mean NOW." 

"You didn't say the magic word." 

That probably was the dumbest thing I could of said. He backhanded me straight out of the chair, knocking one of my pointed teeth clear out of my mouth. I could taste the salty blood in my mouth as I sat up just in time to see him aim a kick at me. I covered myself with my wings, brushing them up against him as I did so. I then heard a howl of pain from him, and raised my head above the tops of my wings. Ifrit had several of my feathers stuck in his leg, in the midst of some gashes that looked like they were caused by blades. He pulled out one of the daggerlike feathers that had wounded him, and stabbed me in the arm with it. He ripped the rest of the red feathers out of his leg, and punched me upside the head. I fell and everything turned white around the edges. 

"You little shit..." he said through gritted teeth. "You dare hurt me like that again, and you're dead. Deader than dead...and Goddess can't do anything about it either. Got it?" 

I nodded mutely, laying on the floor. I watched as he picked up the feathers, and my curved tooth. Then he walked out the door and shut it behind him as if nothing had happened. I whimpered at pawed at my aching beak, wiping away the blood that was mixed with tears. I hated bullies. I really hated bullies. I decided that the first thing to do after I got settled in here was to put Ifrit in his place. 

And that would take me longer than I thought. 

  


* * *


	4. Chapter 4 -- Earning my wings

Chapter four: Earning my wings

My first year there was somewhat pleasant, despite people like Ifrit. I was well-fed, I had plenty of books to read at the library, and I would generally hang out with Siren and Harsghalt, who were kind to me. Hars was sometimes a little rude and abrupt, but I got past that. He's still that way most of the time too. 

  


Hey Hars....it's nice to see that you haven't changed over all these years. No, really. 

  


The only problem was certain individuals like Ifrit. No, I'd say just Ifrit. He had his little flunkies that followed him around and leeched off of him, but he was the main source of trouble. Surprisingly, Goddess herself did nothing about his behavior, even though she obviously knew about it. At one point, Ifrit had me cornered in a hallway and was threatening to burn my feathers off (again), when Goddess came around. She calmly looked down at the two of us with a somewhat unreadable expression. 

"Hello, my children." she said. "A disagreement?" 

"I uh...." I looked at Ifrit. "Well, sort of. Ifrit's picking on me again, and I haven't even fully healed from the last time he beat me up." 

Ifrit seemed to show no shame. "Yeah well, if you would only listen to my rules, then you wouldn't get thrashed on a regular basis. Now say it, Tri." He wrapped his clawlike hands around my neck. "Say that I'm the boss." 

I looked up at Goddess for guidence, intervention, anything that would stop Ifrit from whipping my head back and forth like it was a feather duster. She continued to stand unconcerned. "Perhaps thou hast not yet learned, Tritoch." She sighed. "Pity, for I thought thou wert full of intelligence and zeal." 

"What, you want me to actually bow down to this bully?" I got a rough squeeze around my neck for that sentence. "ggk.....please Ifrit, stop. Goddess, do something!" 

"I will do nothing, Tritoch. You must learn the ways of life around here." She then turned and walked down the hallway. I watched her leave with tears standing in my eyes. I couldn't believe it! She was going to let this brute kick my tail all over the place again. The grip on my neck increased, and I was forced to look my assailant in the eyes. 

"Real dumb, Tri. Even she knows the rules. I'm telling you....she won't save your ass for nothin'. Since you not only refused to submit to the Big Man's wishes but you also tried to weasel your way out of it, I'm gonna make you feel it. And you're gonna feel it for a looong time." He slammed me down on the floor then, and stepped on my back, digging his claws into my skin. He had learned how to avoid my razorlike wings ever since that first encounter, and now found ways to make me hurt that kept him out of wing range. He jumped on me, knocking the wind out of me. I coughed and accidentally bit my own tongue. He laughed and hauled my head up by one of my horns, which was just as painful. I turned to see a fireball balance on his hand, and a malicious grin fixed on his animalistic face. "Time to fry, crybaby." I was crying, more out of anger than anything else. I didn't want this to happen to me, yet again. 

Then out of the corner of my vision I saw a blue-skinned fist slam into Ifrit's head. He stumbled back, falling off of me. I scrabbled away quickly and turned to see who my savior was. 

It was a girl of about 12 or so. Her entire body consisted of blue....indigo hair, blue eyes, light blue skin, and a blue sundress. "Knock that off!" she said, clenching her fists. "Pick on somebody your own size!" 

Ifrit stood up, rubbing the side of his head. "Oh, you're that new girl, huh? Got a lotta guts, hitting me like that. Maybe you oughta learn too." He formed a fireball on his hand. 

The girl's ice-blue eyes narrowed angrily. "You'd hit a girl? No, you'd hit a girl with FIRE?" She raised a hand above her hand, blue-white energy forming on it. "You bastard!" She pointed her hand at Iffie, and the blue energy sailed from her fingers and hit him straight on. "Ice!" 

Ifrit shivered and hugged himself tightly, the ice magic not only chilling him to the bone but also hurting him to some degree. His fur and mane of hair froze solid, and several icicles formed on his obsidian-colored horns. He made an almost whimpering sound and looked at the girl, who stood almost cockily between Ifrit and myself. 

"Care to try it again, Iffie?" she asked coolly. 

Ifrit opened his mouth as if to respond, then thought better of it and clomped it shut. He shivered and then ran off, teeth chattering. The girl raised a hand that was in the formation of a gun, and blew at the tip of her index finger, causing a cold mist to rise from it. I raised myself up on two arms and shook my wings a bit. "Thanks." I was a bit embarassed, and I could feel my face turn red under my feathers. 

"Don't mention it. I hate bullies, but I sure love to put 'em in their place." She extended a hand to help me up. Her hand was ice-cold, but it didn't seem to bother me for some reason. "You must be Tritoch. Siren was telling me about you." 

"And you must be Shiva." I said, shaking her hand. "Nice to meet you." 

She smiled. "You're not cold from touching me?" 

"Well, you feel cold, but it doesn't bother me at all." 

"Oh...are you an ice elemental like me?" She sat down on the floor, leaning against the wall. 

"Um, I don't really know any magic yet. Sorry." 

"Hm. Well, everybody learns sooner or later. I was lucky enough to be born with the ability, even before I became an Esper." She jerked a thumb in the direction Ifrit had hurried off to. "Does he always pick on you like that?" 

"Yes." I said miserably. "I'd fight back, but he's so much stronger than I am. The first time I fought back, he knocked a tooth out of my mouth. I've learned not to try to stop him...although I don't listen to him." I smiled. That is, the corners of my beak turned up. "When he says "do this 'cause I say so", I don't do it. I'm not gonna give him the satisfaction of making me his slave." I folded my wings. "Maybe that's the start of standing up to him...at least until I grow bigger than he is." 

"Yeah, it's a start. You just have to learn to be intimidating." She smiled, showing dimples. "Like me. I'm nothing special....just a girl." She batted her indigo eyelashes. "See, aren't I adorable?" 

I laughed. "You are pretty cute when you're nice....but when you first came along and iced Ifrit, I wouldn't of wanted to stand in your way." 

"See, that's because if you act right, you can be as intimidating as you need to be. Ifrit is only intimidating when he can push people around. When he finds somebody he can't, he turns tail and run. Remember that next time." 

"I think I will. Hey, I was going down to the library...do you want me to show you around?" 

She smiled again, and those dimples popped up. "Certainly. It's good to see that somebody around here is a gentleman." 

And thus started a good friendship. Shiva and I had a lot in common, as it turned out. We were both from the same mountain range that was the spine of the northern continent, although she lived some four hundred or so miles to the west of where Nartch was. Her ancestors were once some of the magic users that faced Zemus long ago. Appantly her great-grandmother had the same name and magic. 

"My name, "Shiva", is inherited." she explained one day. "When a girl of my family shows certain characteristics of an ice elemental, her name is changed to Shiva, and she would travel to the land of the summoned monsters to train as one of them. She wouldn't necissarily be a monster, but a high-level mage that specilized in ice magic, and could be summoned by a summoner." She gave a wry smile. "I got off somehow easy....I'm not at the land of the Summoned Mosters, I'm at....Esperville, or whatever it's called. Goddess is a lot nicer than any summoner could be." 

"Yeah, that's true. She seems really nice to me, but I'm starting to think..." I frowned at the train of thought that I had many times before. "I'm starting to wonder if she has a bigger plan for us." 

Shiva didn't seem to get my drift. "What do you mean?" 

"Well, the thing is, we're all children. Didn't you notice that? The only adults are staff members here...like people in the kitchen or people that work in the library. They're Espers too, but all the children outnumber them seriously." 

"So? It's a sort of orphanage for Espers, no biggie." 

"In that case, tell me what kind of orphanage teaches magic and fighting?" Harsghalt said from across the table. We were in the meeting room, and the three of us were discussing things in general, when Shiva started explaining her past. 

"I haven't seen any fighting...the magic I know, but it's meant to be a gift....right?" It seemed more like I was trying to talk myself out of an idea that had already struck me. Obviously Hars had been hit with the same idea. 

Harsghalt shook his head. "Wrong. She already started training me. I just turned sixteen, so I guess I'm ready. When I asked her why, she said not to worry, it's just another gift, courtesy of our favorite diety." 

"That settles it, then." I said. "It seems like we're not here to live in bliss....we're here to learn how to fight." 

Shiva didn't look happy about the discussion. "Maybe it's only for self-defense....I mean really: look at us. If we ever ran into some normal humans again, how do you think they'd react? We'd have to learn to protect ourselves." 

"Yeah, maybe that's it." Hars said, although his expression said that he wasn't totally convinced. 

Life continued on after that discussion, and Hars told us about his "training". He was being taught how to use a sword, but that was pretty much it. Siren didn't know why Goddess was training anybody, even though she tried to find out. What puzzled her even more is the strange training she recieved. She wouldn't tell us about it, but she did mention that it had something to do with singing. 

I, on the other hand, didn't learn anything. I didn't even learn magic yet, and most of the Espers had learned at least first-level spells. It frustrated me, and I finally asked Goddess about it. 

"It would be best if thou wouldst keep thine beak out of other's affairs, Tritoch." she said curtly. The longer I knew Goddess, the less kind she seemed to be. "It is a gift that is only given to those who deserve it." 

That offended me. I didn't see how different I was from the others...although I was growing taller and longer and getting stronger by the day. But inside...inside I was just like them. I deserved magic just as much as the rest of them. I chewed on this several days after my fifteenth birthday as I sat in the atrium, watching Shiva play with ice crystals. I had been here almost three years, and yet I hadn't accomplished anything. Harsghalt was eighteen and barely around at this point, his training taking up most of his time. Siren had duties that were somewhat secretive, so I rarely saw her either. The only one of my friends that I could still hang around with was Shiva. Nothing against Shiva, but when you're an adolecent, you want to hang out with somebody other than the same person day after day. I had made attempts at peace with Ifrit, but he would laugh and beat the hell out of me afterwards. I was larger than him, but he was still stronger than me. 

As I sat somewhat hidden in some bushes in the atrium, the subject of my thoughts came into the room and walked up to Shiva. Shiva was nearly fifteen, and a very attractive girl. Many of the guys noticed, but not too many dared to ask her out, since she would either laugh or beat the crap out of them. She delicately balanced a flower made out of ice on her hand, adding little details on the petals with an icy finger. Ifrit came up behind her, and wrapped his arms around her waist. She dropped the flower, and made an angry grunt. 

"Iffie, if you know what's good for you, you'll let go of me." 

From where I sat in my bushes, I watched with interest. Shiva was going to beat Ifrit up again, which was always fun to watch....especially since he was nearly twice her bulk. 

Ifrit laughed. "Not this time, honey." 

Shiva's blue eyes blazed. "Honey? HONEY??" 

Ifrit shifted her in his arms, holding her tightly, perhaps a bit too tightly. "You heard me. You know, I've been thinking about you lately." 

Shiva made a gagging sound. "Don't make me sick." 

"Thinking a lot, Shiva. You know that you're damn hot, dontcha?" 

She struggled. "Yeah, damn hot and not yours. Now let me go before you get a Ice2 crammed down your throat." 

He laughed. "Not this time. Since we're alone, why don't we get some quality time in, hmm? This pathway's a little hidden...and nobody would hear us." 

I didn't like where this was going. I quietly made my way out of the bushes. 

Shiva struggled some more. "You...shit! Fine! Ice2!" The spell hit Ifrit with daggers of ice, but he didn't even blink an eyelash. 

Ifrit grinned. "It doesn't hurt me sweetie. See the lovely blue feather I'm wearing?" 

Shiva looked at it. "It looks like Tri's." 

"It is Tri's. I learned that he absorbs ice, so I figured if I wore it, it would protect me. I thought right." He reached up with a hand and grabbed her in a place that he shouldn't. She yelped and struggled. 

I didn't like this at all. I didn't know an overly large amount of information about sex, but I did now that there were some things you weren't supposed to do...like grab people's breasts when they didn't want you to. I came up behind Ifrit. "Knock it off, Ifrit!" 

He stopped what he was doing. "You? Go away, Tri. I'm busy." He then turned his back to me and carried Shiva into some shrubbery growing next to the path. She squirmed and shrieked curses at Ifrit, but he held her tightly, and nobody but I heard, seeing that I was the only one there. I couldn't see what he was doing, but as he made his way over to those bushes with her held against him I heard a ripping sound, and I saw Shiva's dress fall to the grassy floor. 

I heard her scream, and something in me snapped. I made my way over to Ifrit where he was struggling with Shiva and doing something I prefer not to repeat. I felt my body come alive with some sort of fire, ignited by undescribable anger. I flapped my wings, thrusting myself into the air above them. I could see Shiva's face, and it was filled with fear. That just made it worse. I heard myself give off a hissing roar, and saw Ifrit turn to face me. He gave a yell and cast Fire2 on me. I didn't even feel it....the spell actually seemed to make me stronger. 

"BOLT3!" The words came to my mouth unasked. Jagged streaks of electrical energy shot out from all directions of the room, hitting Ifrit one after another. He howled in pain as the electricity jolted him, raised up into the air from the force of it. The spell stopped, and he fell to the ground, clutching at his side with tendrils of smoke rising from his fur. He raised his face to say something, but never got the opportunity to, since I swung my muscular tail to hit him upside his head, sending him flying. He slammed into a tree and fell to the ground, unconcious. I landed next to Shiva, still breathing a bit heavily with rage as I looked at the young man that had caused me trouble ever since I had come here. I don't know why, but it felt good, satisfying. 

I turned to Shiva, who lay naked on the grass. "Are you all right?" 

She shook her head, her entire body trembling with some emotion I couldn't label. I went over to her, and helped her up. "I'm sorry....I just couldn't let him do that to you." 

She nodded and suddenly clung to me, crying. I let her cry for a few minutes, not objecting to the fact that a very pretty girl with no clothes on was hugging me tightly.

  


Yuri, please don't kill me. Shiva, please don't kill me either, and at the same time, don't let it go to your head.

  


I looked at her. "You'd better get your dress on. We're going to find Goddess and tell her about this...and only Goddess. I won't let anybody else know, okay?" 

Shiva nodded, and picked up her torn sundress, putting it on. I helped her tie up the ripped straps, and then lead her out of the atrium.

  


When we found Goddess and told her about Shiva's attempted rape, she became enraged. "I did not think Ifrit would stoop as low." she snarled. "I hath left him unchecked for too long." She looked at the two of us, her eyes as hard as agates. "Come, we shall take care of this brute." 

Even though we hurried back to the atrium, Ifrit was gone when we got there. Goddess shook her head. "He has left. I sense him leaving my realm as we do speak." 

Shiva seemed just as angry as Goddess, and I can't say I blame her. "Let me go after him, Goddess. I want to make him hurt for this, since he hurt me." 

Goddess shook her head. "Nay, Shiva...we shall let him go. He will find that running off doth pose more danger to him than remaining here. Besides, Tritoch gave him a certain taste of pain." 

I hadn't even mentioned how I rescued Shiva. "How do you know about that?" 

The diety sat down on a bench, the same one Shiva was seated on before the whole ordeal. "None of my Espers know third-level magic as of yet. The highest any of them have gotten is the second level. Ergo, when thou did cast Bolt3, I could sense the incredible amount of power it caused." She looked at me. "Finally, the promise I did see in thee hath shown itself, although it did take a dire situation to bring it through. Tell me, Tritoch....how didst thou feel before casting the spell? What didst thou do?" 

I thought back to the experience, although I would of preferred not to. "I felt...angry. Shiva was just minding her business and didn't even provoke Ifrit. When he took her clothes off, I felt really angry, so I flew up in the air. I've never flew before, but suddenly I just knew how. Then he was touching her chest, and uh..." I coughed uncomfortably, blushing. "He was trying to force her legs apart with his own. Then she looked up at me, and she looked afraid. I've never seen Shiva that scared before, and something in me snapped. I had to stop what was happening, so I...I just felt the energy build up in me, and then I directed it at Ifrit, as lightning, since he would absorb Ice or Fire." 

Shiva nodded. "That's right, Iffie was wearing one of Tritoch's feathers. I figured out that Tri was at least part ice elemental because he could touch me and not get could or hurt by it. Then Ifrit cast Fire2 on Tri, and he simply absorbed it. And then Tritoch cast Bolt3." She frowned and looked at Goddess. "Lightning, Fire and Ice elemental all in one....is that possible?" 

"Rare, but definately possible." Goddess responded. "He doth command the three main elements, and also doth absorb them." She looked at me. "Dost thou know what this means, Tritoch?" 

"It means that uh...I'm special?" I wasn't trying to be funny, but the two of them laughed anyway. It was good to see Shiva laugh, since she hadn't smiled since Ifrit attacked her. 

Goddess smiled. "Definately. Thou art definately special, Tritoch. I believe it is finally time to start thy training. Prepare thyself, for thou shall begin tomorrow morning. Sleep well, for thou shalt need thy energy." 

* * *


	5. Chapter 5 -- Training

Chapter five: Training

So thus, my training started. At first, it was merely to see what spells I knew. I could cast Bolt3, Ice3 and Fire3 somewhat easily, after I figured out the trick, but learning the spells below it took a little effort. I actually had learn my spells backwards, so I made my way down to the second-level spells and then to the first-level ones. I also had another spell that I named "rasp", because of the rasping sound it made. What this spell did was drain the magic energy from the target, reducing how many times they could cast a spell, or sometimes even stopping them from having enough energy to cast a spell at all. Goddess also taught me the spell "Mute", since it was useful to stop enemies from casting magic on you. I wasn't too worried about getting harmed by another's magic, however. I could absorb the three main elements, and there weren't too many elemental magics, aside from Earth, Wind and Holy. Apprently Shadow was an element, but I soon learned that the combination of the three main elements that I possesed cast Shadow magic. However, Shadow magic is only truly powerful when the caster has a dark soul, which I did not have...so my magic was tri-elemental instead of fully Shadow. 

Goddess also had me study books on magic: what magics caused what, what certain elementals were weak against, what they were strong against, and what they were immune to. I also learned about the various status-causing magics, such as "Mute" or "Blind". Simple medicines that grew in Goddess' atrium cured these effects easily, if properly used. I soon learned that I was particularily weak to wind magic, since my now-large wings would easily catch any gust of wind and send me flying out of control. I also learned that I was immune to the Berzerk status effect for some reason. I would find out why later. 

I spent another two years training with magic. I learned how to cast magic on groups of targets, or simply on one, or even on parts of a target. For instance, I was having fun casting ice spells on Harsghalt's mustache. For some reason, he didn't enjoy it too much, and would counter by casting Slow or Stop on me. Turnabout is fair play, I guess...but sitting there and not being able to move is irritating. 

Towards the end of my magic training, Goddess stopped shoving magic books in my face, and instead had me read books on weaponry. "Study well." she would say. "For this knowledge shalt be valueable one day." So I read about wars and weapons...some legends, some not. I learned how weapons were made, what they were made of, the names of the weapons, where each kind of weapon originated from, and most importantly, how to use the weapons. However, I learned all of this from books and illustrations, not from experience. It wasn't until I turned eighteen that Goddess introduced me to what looked to be yet another Esper. He was tall, pale, and bordering on being male or female, or both. He had long brown hair, eyes colored to match, and angelic white wings protruding from his back. 

"This is mine servant." Goddess said when she brought me to meet him. At least I assumed it was a him. "His name is Gorangiath Gonoth'arr, and he is the last Angel warrior I have in my service." I had read about the Arch Angels, but I thought they were just a legend. Gorangiath Gonoth'arr, who greeted me politely, proved me wrong simply by existing. 

I bowed slightly to him, even though it didn't lower my height below his by doing so. I was at my full twenty-two feet and three inch height, and that didn't count for my tail, only my "standing" position. "Nice to meet you Goranthgu Gonnarr...Go....er.." 

He smiled a bit. "Many have trouble with my name. Just GoGo will do." His voice was soft, and could of easily passed for either a woman's or a man's. That's the problem with Angels. Normally we like to label people as either "he" or "she", but Angels don't have a gender. Still, I always referred to GoGo as a "he". 

GoGo looked at me critically. "Hm, you're quite an unusual one, aren't you?" 

"Trust me, it wasn't my idea to be unusual." 

"Understood. Hold out your arms, please." I did as he asked. "Hm, a fairly good range. Not only that, but you have four of them. Tell me, are you interested in ambedextrous fighting?" 

"I can't say that I am. I'm right-handed, and the only thing I use my left hands for is eating. Sorry." 

"Don't apologize. You can always learn how to use all four arms later. As for now, let's just concentrate on a weapon for your upper right arm. I start all out with a sword, so let me fetch you one." He went to a rack of weapons behind him and selected a simple, unadorned hand-and-a-half-grip broadsword. It was nearly as tall as he was. "Here, try that on for size." 

I took the sword from him, and despite the fact that it was almost six feet of solid steel, it wasn't overly heavy for my well-muscled arms, and I hefted it with ease. "Seems all right. Although the hilt and pommel aren't long enough....I can barely hold it with one hand." 

"We can make one specilized for you later. As of now, you'll be training with that sword in Esper form. Later, you'll try it in human form." 

I looked at him like he was crazy. "Human form? Excuse me?" 

GoGo sighed. "Goddess, didn't you tell him?" 

"Nay." She said. "He was not yet ready, although he hath found out now." 

"You mean, I can turn back into a human?" 

"Yes," she said. 

"And you've kept it from me? Goddess, no offense, but that was a cruel thing to do." 

"Do not be so harsh, Tritoch. I did keep it from thee, since thou could not do it as a child or even as an adolecent. An Esper cannot assume their human form until they have gone through puberty." 

"I didn't know that Wyverns went through puberty." 

"Oh? Then why is it that thine voice hath deepened? And thou did grow in size? And what of thy thoughts on both Shiva and Siren?" 

I blushed. "I guess I did grow up. So I can turn into a human now?" 

"Most likely, yes. But wait for only a while. When today's training is complete, I shall show thee how." She stood. "I have things to attend to. Train well, Tritoch." 

"Thank you, Goddess." 

  


I learned the basics that day, intent on not only doing a good job, but getting through the training. I couldn't wait to be human again, and the thought of being so made me want to break into a dance of joy. GoGo said that he was impressed at how quickly I picked up on things, and at my strength and stamina. 

"Many Espers barely have more strength or endurance than a normal human does." he said. "It's good to see that there are at least some with nearly godlike bodies." 

"Godlike? I'd hardley call a snakey bird "godlike"." 

He leaned against the wall, the white wings on his back giving off a faint glow. "Yes, Goddess did mention that you aren't too fond of your form." 

I lowered my eagle-like head down to his level, to look straight into his eyes. "If you looked like this, would you be happy?" 

He chuckled. "I see your point. I was blessed with a form that is beautiful, so I take how others feel about their appearances for granted." GoGo looked into my eyes, and laughed. 

"Come on now, I can't be that funny-looking." I had the distinct feeling he was making fun of me. 

"No, I'm just laughing because I can see my reflection in your huge black eyes. Those eyes are so dark, I can't even see your pupils, but I can see my own face." 

I raised my head back up to its normal level. "Sorry to seem a bit testy, but can we get on with this? I want to get done with training today." 

We trained for a few more hours, and at that time I at least felt somewhat comfortable with holding and swinging a sword. GoGo had actually glanced me with his own sword, but the armored plates on my neck and belly easily deflected the blows. It was way after dinnertime when we stopped. I was starting to tire, not to mention I was extremely hungry. GoGo didn't show any signs of weariness or hunger (damn Angel). 

"I think that's enough for today. I can go on for several days straight, but I know you haven't eaten or rested since this morning. I think I'll arrange to get some armor fashioned for you." 

I put my sword back on the rack carefully. "Armor? What do I need armor for when I have this?" I rapped my knuckes on the hard plates covering my chest." 

"I'm talking about armor for your head and back. You don't turn around quickly, so you're fairly vunerable if attacked from behind. Don't worry about it now...go back to your room and take a rest. You've earned it." 

I thanked GoGo, and left the training area to go into the atrium. It was nighttime, and paper lanterns lit up the white marble pathways. I felt good for some reason, like I actually accomplished something. I smiled in spite of myself, and continued down the pathway to the housing wing. As soon as I reached the doorway, I found Siren standing there. 

I hadn't seen Siren in nearly two years, since her own strange and mysterious training with Goddess herself had taken up all her time. She was nineteen now, and more than just a skinny little girl with wings on her head. She had her wings resting lightly against her back as she stood in the doorway. One of the more noticible things about her is that she only wore a green short-sleeved shirt that tied at the waist. Most of her body that was visible was covered in feathers, so she at least had some sense of modesty to her. Her hair was now blonde and brown with purple streaks, and the wings poking out of it were covered in feathers that were no longer plain yellow, but golden. 

"Hello, Tri." Even her voice had seriously changed. She now sounded like a woman, not a girl. 

"Hello Siren." I smiled at her. "Good to see you. Where have you been?" 

She sighed almost wearily. "Busy, very busy. I've been isolated somewhere to train my abilities. And please don't ask what Tri...I can't even tell you." She held up her arms. "Aren't you gonna hug me hello?" 

I laughed and hugged her with all four arms. "A kiss hello would be appropriate too, but I don't have lips." 

She laughed, her laugh sounding rich and vibrant like Goddess'. "Not at the moment. Goddess sent me to show you how to be human." 

I let her go and set her down. "You know how?" 

"I not only know how, but I've done it before. C'mon, you'll want to go up to your room for this, since it can be a bit of a shock at first." 

"Uh, okay. Let's go." I glide-drag-shuffled my way up the stairs and down the hall to my room, with her keeping pace alongside me. I had plenty of questions I wanted to ask her, but I couldn't think of where to start. Not only that, but I figured that most of them wouldn't get a straight answer. Siren always had been secretive about what Goddess was teaching her, and I was positive that she wouldn't share anything with me. I went into my room, ducking down to get inside. She followed me in and closed the door. 

"Why are you going to show me, though? Goddess said that she would." 

Siren sat down at one of the normal chairs in the room, since it was now intermixed with normal human chairs and large couches that could hold my snakelike frame. "She wanted to, but she had to rescue an Esper boy. So she sent me, since I know how fairly well." 

I rubbed my hands together eagerly. "I can't wait to be human again." 

"Well, it's not exactly human, Tri. You're still an Esper, it's just that Espers have two forms: their beast form, and then their humanoid form." She sighed. "Let's get started. First, you need to concentrate. Look at your Esper self in the mirror to get a picture of how you look now in your mind. 

I lowered myself down to look into the bathroom mirror, and saw the face that I was all-too familiar with. The black eyes stared back at me from under feathery brows, and the horns and head crest of the fierce-looking wyvern in the mirror glinted slightly in the light. I formed how the rest of me looked: multicolor feathers on my back, armored plates on the front, four emerald-scaled arms, and a set of colorful wings on my back. "Okay, I think I got it." I held the image in my mind. 

"Now think of the kind of person you are....your personality, how you talk, how you think, and incorporate that with the wyvern form into a human body." 

I frowned, almost losing the image of myself. "That's sort of hard to do." 

"It is the first time, but you'll get the hang of it. Try closing your eyes, it might help you concentrate." 

I shut my eyes, forming the picture of the Wyvern again, along with my personality to go with it, and then directed that thought at the rough image of a human in the vaults of my mind. It was quite possibly the hardest thing I've ever done. I gritted my, teeth, setting my beak on edge. "Okay, now what?" 

"Now all of that should of been directed to that human form, just how you target a spell at somebody or something. And it's the same way...just you're directing this all at yourself. So release the spell." 

It was much simpler once I realized it was a spell. I released it within my mind, without any release words or gestures. Suddenly I felt strange, as if I was shrinking in size. My flesh seemed to writhe and slide about in a strange but not uncomfortable sensation. I felt my tail disappear, and my bottom arms contort to legs, and the lack of sensation on my back indicated my wings were gone as well. After a few seconds, it stopped. I could feel my bare feet on the floor. It was a sensation I had almost forgotten. 

"Open your eyes." she commanded. I did so, and saw not a wyvern in the mirror, but a man instead. My eyes weren't black as I thought they would be, but they were a deep scarlet color. My skin had settled into a golden tan, which completely set off my golden-blond eyebrows. My hair was the most interesting, since it was blue and green with a streak of gold down the center of it. It fell to just below my ears, and was swept back to some degree. My face itself wasn't the exceedingly handsome one I always wanted, but it wasn't ugly, although my nose was a bit large for my taste. All in all, I was a normal-looking man. I then looked down at my body, and at my hands. My hands and feet were somewhat large, but I didn't mind. I was actually somewhat well-built and muscular, which I didn't expect. 

I also realized at that instant that I was completely naked. 

I heared Siren giggle behind me. "Nice ass." 

I grumbled and felt my face turn red as the tan-skinned man in the mirror's face took on a pinkish cast. I darted to my bed and whipped the top blanket off of it, drawing it around my waist. "That's not funny, Siren. You could of at least warned me." 

"What, and spoil the fun? I won't comment about any other body parts if you don't want me to, although I can say that some parts of the male anatomy have never been pretty." 

I blushed again, and she giggled at me. "Well, naked or not, at least I'm human." I waggled my long fingers. "And I'm liking it a whoooole lot." 

She stood up and took a few steps towards me. "You've got a cute smile, too. All in all, you turned out pretty nice...although you keep blushing." 

"I actually get red in the face a lot, it's just that the feathers kept it hidden." She continued to walk towards me, making me feel just slightly uncomfortable. "Uh...what are you doing?" 

"I just want to check you out." She grabbed my arm and gave it a squeeze. "Hm, good muscle tone, well-proportoned. Were you this well-built when you were a kid?" 

"No, I was skinny and had different-colored hair and eyes. Why, is this how I would of looked if I was always human?" 

"You've got it." She gave a little smile. "Want to see my human form?" 

"Sure. Fair's fair. Uh...will you be naked?" 

Siren laughed. "Why, would it make you feel uncomfortable?" 

"Yes and no. Damn.....I feel funny." 

"All that testosterone that was being used for different things in the wyvern body is kicking in for your human one. You're a man, honey." 

I sat down on the bed, blanket still around my waist, and rubbed at my eyes. "Dear lord, I hope I don't feel like this every time I'm human." 

"You won't, unless you wind up naked around a pretty girl again." 

"Yeah, you are pretty attractive, Siren." I looked up at her, and my jaw dropped. Siren was no longer in her Esper form, but her human one now. She looked very similar, with purple eyes and light brown hair, and she was the same size and build. She was also only wearing the shirt. I felt another wave of testosterone whack me like a mallet. 

  


Please, I'm trying to get through this part as delicately as possible. Do you want me to say I got a....er, never mind.

  


I blinked. "Wow." 

She spun a little like a model on a runway. "That's what they all say. Y'know, I've been waiting for you to be human. Do you know that I like you, Tri?" 

"I like you too, Siren. We've been friends for a long time now, right?" 

"That's not what I meant. I'm seeing that this is sailing right over your frooty-colored head. Here, let me make things more clear to you." She sat next to me on the bed, wrapped her arms around my neck, and kissed me. "Now do you understand?" 

I smiled, perhaps a bit goofily. Her methods were direct, and yet very effective. It wasn't as if I minded. "Sure, I understand. But could you explain it to me in more detail?" 

I'm going to just stop here and move on to the next chapter. I think we all know what happened, don't we? Although I will say that I did a lot of smiling afterwards. 

* * *


	6. Chapter 6 -- Truth makes itself known

Chapter six: Truth makes itself known

So I was human now, or at least in human form. I was also naked. Instead of asking how to change back to wyvern form, decided to ask Siren to get me some clothing after our....encounter. 

"Sure." She said, putting her green shirt back on and assuming Esper form once more. "I think we have some clothing that should fit you. There's entire closets of it down near the training room. Anything in particular you want?" 

I tapped at my chin thoughtfully with a finger. Just the act of actually touching a chin....no, HAVING a chin made me happy. "Use your best judgement...just don't be funny and get me a dress. Just a shirt, pants, underwear and some sort of shoes will do." 

"Got it. I'll get you something that matches your eyes." 

"Good, I like red. I'm gonna take a quick bath and then see about getting some food after I get dressed. You're more than welcome to join me." 

That sly smile crept across her face. I would later pick it up as a sign to run like hell. "Do you mean for dinner, or the bath?" 

"Look, you had your fun with me for now. I'm tired enough as it is, don't make it worse." 

She giggled, and headed to the door. 

"Oh, and Siren..." 

She turned. "Yeah?" 

I smiled. "Thanks." 

She nodded, draping her wings behind her back again, and left my room, closing the door behind her. I lay back on the bed and sighed. This was definately one of the more interesting days of my life. I had learned how to fight with a sword in a mere six hours, learned how to shape-shift to become human, and well...learned some other things as well. I then realized that I was dead tired. The fact that my eyes kept sliding shut was an indication. I sat up, swing my legs over the side of the bed, and went to bathe. 

Siren came back about a half hour later, with some clothing thrown over her arm. I was sitting in a towel on my bed, reading a book. "Here you are, Tri. I think these'll fit. If they don't, I can always get you something else." She set the clothing down next to me. 

I marked the place in my reading, and set the book down. "Thanks. Let's see if it fits." I sorted through the clothing. I had no idea what size I wore, since I had grown considerably since I had last worn clothing. There were khakis, a cream-colored shirt that partially buttoned-up at the neck, a leather belt, and a red maroon vest with some sort of swirl pattern on it. There were also socks and loafers, and a pair of boxers. 

  


You may note that I still wear the same outfit while human. No, it's not strange or disgusting, I have several changes of it if I need it, and there's a reason why I wear it....which I'll explain in a minute.

  


I put on the clothing, ignoring the fact that Siren watched the entire process. It wasn't like she was seeing anything she hadn't seen before. Everything fit fairly well, even the shoes, although the shirt was slightly baggy, and the waist of the khakis were a bit too large...but I remedied that by tucking in my shirt and belting the khakis. 

"Sorry if the pants and shirt don't fit overly well, Tri...but it was hard for me to find clothing that would fit your long arms and legs. Getting shoes for those big feet of yours was something of a challange too." 

I adjusted the vest, and looked at myself in the mirror. For some reason, the clothes just made it perfect: I was, in essence, the average-looking guy (with odd-colored hair, anyway). Still, the vest itself gave my apperance a slight fussy touch. Maybe it was the way it sat on my shoulders, or maybe it was the fact that it was made of silk, but I frowned. "I look like I'm ready to give a lecture somewhere." 

Siren looked at me critically in the mirror, and then reached over to the buttons on my shirt, and unbuttoned them. "How's that?" 

"Now I look like a pimp ready to give a lecture somewhere." I laughed. "No, it's fine. These clothes are a good choice, Siren." I kissed her cheek out of impulse. "Thank you." 

Yet another coy yet sly smile crept across her lips. "Didn't you say something about dinner?" 

"Yes, I suppose I did, didn't it?" I offered her my arm. "Shall we, then?" 

From that point on, I generally went around as a human. The other Espers didn't mind....the actually approved. Many of my friends could assume human form long before I could, but they chose to hide that fact from me out of fairness. It doesn't seem fair to me even now...but I digress; I can shift form back and forth now, and that's what matters, isn't it? 

My training continued, both physical and mental. Goddess herself took time with me at this point to deal with my magic skills, while GoGo increased my knowledge of weapons. One particular day I was asked to meet him outside for training, in a shack that I didn't recall being there before. The angel was seated on a simplistic stool, surrounded by various bits of metal, tools and a thin haze of smoke that came from a large contained fire. When I entered the shack, he stood up. 

"Ah, Tritoch...good of you to come. I think it's time to expand your lessons even more." 

I, in wyvern form, shifted to human to fit inside the shack. I could of fit most of me in it if GoGo wasn't there, but his wings took up more space than his body did, so it was cramped in there. "Expand? I thought I knew enough about fighting?" 

He sighed. "You disappoint me, Tritoch. Of anybody, I thought that at least you would know that you never stop learning. But no...you aren't learning about fighting directly. You are going to learn about an art that makes the art of fighting possible." He indicated the fire with bellows attached. "Smithing." 

I looked at him like he was stupid. "Smithing? As in...heating metal, banging on it and making things?" 

"You don't like the idea?" 

"Well, I'm not too pleased about it." I admitted. 

"Too bad. I've already picked who I want to learn the trade, and that person is you. It might be a little rough at first, but eventually you'll get used to it. Besides, Espers have some advantages." 

I looked at the fire. "Oh?" 

GoGo gently folded his white wings against his back. "Yes. For instance, you are partially a fire elemental. The heat of the forge won't bother you as much, and you can also use your own magic to keep it fairly hot, without the bellows." 

"Isn't that wasting magic? I probably could just use the bellows instead." 

He looked at me cooly. "While turning a hunk of metal in the coals? I know you have four arms in Esper form, but I don't think you can fit in here too well." 

I stared at the glowing coals. "What's the other advantage?" 

The angel took a bar of metal off the wall. "Your strength. Espers are exceedingly strong, even while in their human forms. Looking at your build, I estimate that you are probably just as strong, if not stronger than your peers. Here." He handed the bar to me. "Bend that." 

I gripped the cold metal in my hands and frowned at it. This whole ordeal was stupid...I thought that GoGo had a brain about him, and now he was testing my strength, even though he knew how strong I was. I grunted and bended the bar into a U-shape, and then handed it back to him. 

"Good. That's no problem...but try this one." He reached up to take another bar that looked pretty much identical to the one I just bent. "Don't hurt yourself." He grinned as he passed the metal on to me. 

I attempted to do the same with this metal bar as I did with the last one, but found it more difficult. It wasn't necissarily easy to bend the first one, but I could do it. The second one I could barely curve at all. I struggled with it for a few minutes, and finally gave it back to my teacher. It was more like a boomerang than a U-shape. 

I wiped at my sweaty face, panting. "I don't get it...those two bars feel the same....they're both steel, right? What's the difference?" 

GoGo bent both bars back to their normal shape, and hung them back on the walls. "The first bar was cooled much faster than the second one. Hence, the first bar was weaker than the second one. That's the first thing you have to learn...once something is hot, keep it hot for a while and cool it slowly, or it'll be brittle." 

"Steel can't exactly be brittle, can it?" 

"Would you like to see?" 

I nodded. "Yeah. I'd like to see steel break like a dry piece of wood, if that's what you're saying it does." 

"Fine then. Roll up your sleeves, hand me that practice sword over there, and pump the bellows. I'll prove my theory...no, the FACTS that I learned long ago." 

I shrugged and did as he asked. He took the normal-looking practice sword and heated it in the coals as I laborously worked the bellows to get the fire white-hot. After several minutes, he asked me to stop. 

"Now Tritoch, what I want you to do is cast a small ice spell on that drum of water over there. Don't freeze it solid, just make it cold enough that it'll have some ice floating in it. Like as cold as a lake gets in the winter...understand?" 

I nodded, and glanced at the barrel of water, casting the spell by doing so. I saw mist rise off the top of the drum briefly, indicating that the water was now cold. GoGo walked past me with the glowing sword held in a pair of tongs. "Stay back a little. It'll spit at you." 

I watched as he plunged the orange-hot sword into the water. What I expected was a hissing sound and a lot of smoke and steam. What I DIDN'T expect was an explosion, which is pretty much what happened. The cold water erupted out of the barrel, splashing over both me and GoGo. Surpisingly, it was no longer cold, but fairly hot. Through the massive cloud of steam that had risen I could see my teacher hold the sword in the vat of water. He held it in there for several minutes, and then turned to me. 

"Cast another ice spell....the water's too warm." 

I did as I was told, and the steam rising off the drum slackened slightly. GoGo waited for a few more minutes, and then pulled the sword out of the barrel with his bare hands. "A little warm, but it'll do. Now, watch." He calmly walked over to an anvil sitting on a metal worktable, and raised the sword above it. "This is why you cool metal slowly." Then he brought the sword down on the dead center of the anvil. I expected sparks. There were sparks all right, but also a dreadful cracking sound...and a fragment of the sword whistled past my ear to bury itself in the wall of the shack. The angel held up the stub of the weapon to reveal a jagged edge. "It shatters. Now try to think of what would of happened if somebody was using this sword while in a fight. They wouldn't of done too well, now would they?" 

I pulled the fragment of sword out of the wall, and examined it in awe. "Point taken....lesson learned. When do I learn lesson two?" 

He smiled, and brought me over to the bellows. "Lesson two: The importance of heat. Now, how hot your fire is will denote how strong your weapon will be..." 

* * *


	7. Chapter 7 -- As time passes

Chapter seven: As Time Passes

Time passed, as it has a tendancy to do. I continued my physical training with GoGo along with my smithy training, as well as continued practicing magic under Goddess' guidance. I also continued having fun...er, bedroom adventures with Siren, although the relationship never seemed to really go anywhere. I think what it was is that we were young, stupid and bored out of their minds. Now that I look back on it I realize such behavior was really stupid, and I could have said "no" at any occasion. But I didn't. 

Still, it didn't interfere with years of training. My skills as a mage increased tenfold, as did my ability to make things in the forge. Sometimes I got creative and instead of making weaponry or armor or even pots and pans, I'd make something random and out of the blue. 

One such day, GoGo had left the forge on some sort of business, and Goddess calmly stood in the doorway, watching me. She tended to watch me and many of her other Espers, so this was nothing new. It didn't bother me that a deity hovered over me either; she was as commonplace as the furnature at this point. Except furnature wasn't full of commentary. 

"What art thou doing, Tritoch?" she asked, mildly curious. 

"Working as usual, Goddess." I was carefully welding something with fire magic, since my project was a bit delicate. 

"Ah, an oblique response." She came to stand next to me. "What art thou working on, then?" 

I shrugged in an offhand manner. "A gift. I haven't decided for whom yet. I just...started making it yesterday, and I'm finishing it off today." 

"Why create something as a gift before thou dost know whom it's for? Why not plan?" 

I paused for a minute, and then went back to my meticulous task. "Hm...I guess the answer to that would be: "because I can". I've made things for people in mind before...but sometimes it can be fun to do something randomly, without any real worry about planning." I finished my welding of thin mythril petal to the head of the rose I was making. I was actually quite proud of something I made with little planning, but I wasn't about to boast about it. "Like this rose here....I started out just making the stem, then added leaves and thorns, and then re-did the petals to make it more realistic. But still, I didn't know I was going to make a rose out of steel and mythril yesterday morning." I carefully began to cool the glowing petals in a small vat of water, watching as the reddish glow faded to the familiar silvery-blue of cool mythril. 

"So doing such a thing, on a whim, on inspiration, gives thee joy?" 

"Well, yeah. If it didn't make me happy, I probably wouldn't do it." 

"Hm..." Goddess sat down on a nearby workbench, seemingly out of place in her flimsy gown and braided tresses. "Is that why you continue to serve me?" 

I didn't even look at her, or hesitate in asking. "Of course. If you hadn't found me, I don't know where I'd be right now. I'm very happy here, so the least I can do is be your servant and try to make you happy." 

I felt her arms slip around my shoulders, and her kiss my cheek. It tingled a bit. "My Tritoch," she laughed. "...thou art among mine most loyal, and that doth make me happy." 

I, a bit embarassed about this show of affection, awkwardly handed her the metal rose. "Then I'm happy. I'd do anything for you." 

She pulled away, holding the rose to her face like it was a living plant. "For me?" 

"It's not as beautiful as a real rose, and it doesn't smell like one....but it's the least I can do." 

Goddess looked up to me, her eyes glinting with joy and perhaps something hidden. "Oh no, there is so much more thou canst do for me. Please mine Tritoch, meet me outside this hut in thine wyvern form in no more than an hour.....'tis time I speak to thee about something of importance." 

I bowed. "Whatever you wish, Goddess." 

She smiled, and left the room. 

I hurried to the dining hall to snag something to eat before my meeting with Goddess. I had no real idea what she wanted to talk to me about, but I figured it was yet another kind of training. I had no idea what sort of training; I had a small academic education at this point..I could read and write, and knew a bit about arithmatic and science. I had spend years learning magic and swordsplay, and learning how to be a blacksmith. What was she going to get me into next, cooking? I hoped that wasn't the case, because whenever I tried to cook anything, it wound up blackened and dry. 

Dammit Jim, I'm an Esper, not a chef. 

Lich was kind enough to serve me up some sandwiches, even though I insisted he didn't need to. I thanked him, and headed towards the back to sit at my customary table. Surprisingly, somebody was already sitting there. 

"Missed dinner again, huh Tri?" The familiar voice said. He didn't have to turn around, his silver hair and tone of voice gave him away. 

"Hars?" I said around a mouthfull of sandwich. I chewed and swallowed. "Long time no see." 

"Eh." He motioned me to sit down, which I did. "Tri, I have to talk to you about something..." 

"Yeah, sure...go ahead." 

"Goddess is hiding something from me. I think I know what it is..." 

"We all think she's hiding something from all of us." I took another bite of sandwich. 

"Really? Is she keeping a cap on your powers?" 

"Er, no. She's doing that to you? Why?" 

He sighed and steepled his hands before him, staring straight past me at nothing in particular. "Because of my element...I'm a time elemental. No Esper has that ability, none. I've looked, I've asked, and nobody has ever been able to control time like me. I used to be able to see into the past, and into the future...and even into alternate nows. Sometimes it seemed almost like I could exist in those times too." 

I was flabberghasted. "That's....amazing. Why didn't you tell us you could do this before?" 

He gave a disgusted snort. "Because each time I'd discover a new ability, Goddess would tell me that I wasn't ready for it yet, and seal it away. I can cast some spells, yeah....but I can't see into the past anymore, not even mine. I only got a glimpse at where I came from." He let his hands drop and rest on the table, and stared at them. "Tritoch, I'm not an Esper like you are." 

"Then what exactly are you?" 

"A dragon." 

"Oh sure, that sums it up. I knew you were a dragon anyway. How does that not make you an Esper?" 

He was quiet for a minute, and then he answered. "Because I saw my parents, I remember them, if barely. They weren't human, although they had human forms. They were dragons...dragon gods, to be exact. Which would make me..." He didn't need to finish the sentence. 

"So...what are you going to do about it?" 

Harsghalt made a frustrated sound. "I don't know, I have no frickin' idea. Goddess has me neatly planted under her thumb, and I can barely squirm at this point. What would be better for her than to have her own baby godling to bend to her will? Not only that, but one with the power to alter time, space and the very existance around us?" He slammed his fist on the table. "It's not fair! I don't want to live my life out as her shitty little pawn! I want to find my parents, to learn who I really am and what I can really do, not serve a devious goddess in some war I don't understand." 

My ears perked up at the word. "War?" 

He looked up at me and narrowed his silver eyes. "You don't even know what's happening?" 

"I'm afraid not, but some things are getting crystal clear now. Like the training with magic, and then with swords. And then I was trained as a smith: to make armor and weapons, no doubt." 

"You catch on quick. Yeah, we're at war...that's where I've been for the past few years. I've been fighting other Espers, the troops of Doom and Poltergiest in a bizzare three-way war. From what I've seen, it's a war where nobody's the good guy or the bad guy. We're all just pieces on some gameboard that the three goddesses are moving around at their whim, as the part of some game. It's a pointless war, and now it's starting to effect the humans too. All for what? So the three goddesses can have their fun and try to out-do each other in what they view as a fun little competition." 

"I knew it had to be something, but I didn't know it'd be this. This is insane." 

"We all think it's insane, Tri....but would YOU go against a god? Would you rebel? Even I'm afraid to try. I'm going to keep fighting, and try to ride it out. Hopefully in a few years this disgusting war will end." He stood. "I'd better get going, I only have a few more hours left of freedom before I'm shipped back to the front lines. I imagine I'll see you there soon." 

I watched as he left the dining hall, my mind dizzy with all the information I had just recieved. So that was it? That's why the goddesses created the Espers? Not out of accident, but to create magical troops of mythical monsters? And what about me? I knew that's what Goddess had in mind now, that's what she wanted to speak to me about. But the one thing that screamed at me the most was the thought of Nartch, and why it was destroyed. In that spat between Doom and Poltergiest, there were no Espers fighting; only the two goddesses towering over the town, flinging magic all over the place. Nartch wasn't destroyed out of an accident, or because two goddesses had lousy aim with their magic. Nartch wasn't razed and I wasn't created by some sort of fluke. It had all been planned. I was made to fight, and nothing more. 

I looked down at my half-eaten sandwich. Suddenly I wasn't very hungry anymore. 

* * * 

Within an hour's time, I was waiting outside the smithy, in wyvern form. I was sour about how Goddess had duped me, and how she had manipulated all the others. Still, I wasn't going to let that show in our meeting. I lay coiled there calmly, with my wings slightly spread and my arms folded over my chest. My lower set of arms rested on the ground, one of them tapping irritably on the grass. I really didn't want to let her see me angry, but it was fairly hard to do seeing that my life was a joke. I was made to fight, made to serve. 

Wouldn't that make you angry? Wouldn't you want to bite the person in two that did that to you? Okay, bad analogy but you get my point. 

Goddess walked around the corner, still holding the metal rose I gave to her earlier. She smiled lightly at me. "Tritoch," 

I fluffed up the feathers on my head and neck like a chicken, and then flattened them. "Goddess," 

"Thou dost seem...annoyed?" 

"Something a friend was saying earlier. Don't worry about it, I won't let it interfere with our meeting here." 

She smiled again and sat down on a large rock. "Ah, good...for thine mind must remain clear." Goddess looked up at the moon. "Tritoch, did I ever tell thee that there wert two moons?" 

I glanced up at the moon. Even with my one bad eye I could make out every crater and valley. "No, I never knew that." 

"That is because the second moon is gone. It was destroyed in a great battle. The Dragon god Bahamut sought to make it his home, but when it was destroyed he disappeared. He was mine ally of sorts." 

"Ally in what?" 

"Thou art sly, Tritoch. An ally in the constant battles that mine sisters wage against me. Battles that have taken place since the fall of the second moon." She looked at me with her clear blue eyes. "Battles that continue, even today. Which is why thou art here now, Tritoch. As a duty, thou must serve me in these fights." 

I knew that was coming, but I still felt a twinge of fear when I heard it. "In a war? But..." 

"There are no buts, Tritoch." she snapped coldly, cutting me short. "Thou art mine Esper, and as mine Esper, thou shalt fight in my name. It is why thou wert trained so, why thou spent years here. I spent time training thee so thou wouldst survive. I would not send thee out if I doubted thine abilities." 

"Yes, my goddess." 

"I wish for thee to create thyself a decent sword, and armor." 

"Yes, my goddess." I said a bit more quietly. 

"Thou doth have one month before thou art sent to fight against the forces of Poltergiest. Starting tomorrow, thou shalt make thine equiment with the skills mine angel Gorangiath Gonoth'arr taught thee. Hasten to bed and rest, for tomorrow will be a busy day for thee." Goddess stood, still holding the rose, and left the smithy yard, leaving me alone. 

And thus I entered the War of the Magi. 

* * *


End file.
